Tech

What Microsoft Must Achieve With Build 2013

Microsoft recently launched Office for the iPhone. In years past, when Microsoft software didn't just rule, but defined "computing," bringing its gold-standard productivity suite to the world's most popular device would have been a gigantic move, with millions of users downloading and using it within hours.

But back in reality, it barely registered. Certainly, Office on the iPhone was news, but it changed the lives of few iPhone users, judging by the muted response (Microsoft says it's "pleased" with Office for iPhone, but it was never near the top of App Store charts). As it turns out, most iPhone owners get by just fine with any number of Office alternatives and aren't that excited by software you "subscribe" to — and who the hell still uses Office, anyway?

The lead balloon that was Office for iPhone is just a symptom of Microsoft's overall challenge at its 2013 Build developer conference is about to begin: the quest to reverse its diminishing relevance in the lives of everyday people and how they interact with technology. As with so many tech trends over the past 15 years, Microsoft arrived late to the game, then put out a so-so product that didn't measure up to competitors.

We've seen this pattern before with the Zune, Windows Phone and even Outlook.com. All of those products were fairly lackluster when compared to Microsoft's main rivals — the iPod, iOS/Android and Gmail — but subsequent iterations polished the experiences, even if Microsoft never quite seems to pull ahead.

If you wanted to be really cruel (and unfair) you could even lump Windows 8 into the underachiever pile. But Windows is Microsoft's core product, and it's continually evolving. It's not like selling Zunes, a product the company can start and stop at will; Windows is a living representation of Microsoft's priorities and philosophy about how people use technology, something that by its nature is constantly changing.

Looking at how PC sales have continued to slide since the release of Windows 8, Microsoft appears to have missed the mark on that score. Windows 8.1, which will bring a number of improvements as well as support for small-screen tablets, gives Microsoft a second shot to bring people what they want from a computer (whatever its form may be) in 2013.

But Microsoft will need more than just a few new ways to customize Windows, as cool as some of the new 8.1 tricks are. With Build, Microsoft has to make up for its failures at the launch of Windows 8: Go beyond features and "potential" and show the world — not to mention developers — how its platform can meet the needs of connected consumers better than anyone else's.

Here's how it can do that.

Get Some Big-Name Windows 8 Apps

If the modern UI in Windows 8 is the future, that future will feel pretty lonely if it doesn't have Facebook. The lack of a Facebook app is the most glaring omission in the Windows 8 catalog, exacerbated by the fact that Facebook is a strategic partner for Microsoft. Sure, you can just run Facebook in a browser, but there's a reason the company developed a native app for the iPad: the experience is better.

Since the modern UI was created as a touch-first interace, some desktop apps like AutoCAD may never fully translate. But other apps people simply expect to see on tablets. So far, no official apps exist for LinkedIn, Flipboard, major Google products (Drive, Gmail, YouTube, etc.) or "read it later" apps like Pocket. And where the hell are Spotify and Amazon Instant Video?

Until the modern UI can offer users a comparable experience to the iPad and Android tablets, which means offering apps people want, many users will question the benefit of buying a Windows 8 machine over sticking with what they already have. And Windows RT devices, which can't run most desktop apps, will simply be dead in the water.

Introduce Cheap Windows Tablets

This one is practically a given, but no less urgent. The popularity of cheaper small-screen tablets has exploded over the last two years, and since Windows 8 didn't support screens smaller than about 10 inches, Microsoft shut itself out that lucrative market.

Windows 8.1 finally gets Microsoft a seat at the small-screen table.. We got the first taste of l'il Windows tablets at Computex earlier this month, but Build will likely be their "official" coming-out party, possibly led by a pint-size version of the Surface. Yes, this is yet another example of Microsoft playing catch-up instead of innovating, but it's a race any serious tablet player can't ignore.

As much as size matters, however, price matters more. Right now, the $199 Kindle Fire HD arguably offers consumers more than the $499 Surface RT. Smaller Windows tablets give Microsoft and its partners the chance to compete with the likes of Android and the iPad mini, but only if they can beat them on price.

Xbox Everywhere

Microsoft made some noise with the recent unveiling of the Xbox One, which includes many features (such as easy voice-activated channel switching) clearly aimed at markets other than gamers. Still, the Xbox remains a tough sell to anyone not interested in gaming, especially at $499.

Microsoft could begin to change this by introducing more ways to experience Xbox content and the platform without buying an Xbox. According to a report from Reuters, this is exactly what Microsoft intends to do, providing iPhone and Android users a way to play Xbox games. It's a step in the right direction, but it shouldn't be the last.

Give Business a Reason to Love Windows 8

Everyone knew business and the enterprise would hold out from upgrading to Windows 8 right away. Besides the major UI changes, there are few enterprise-grade apps and the benefits to upgrading aren't entirely clear for many companies.

Convincing some big names to upgrade to Windows 8 would give the platform a boost it desperately needs, and with Windows 8.1, Microsoft has the opportunity to show the value of adopting the OS in the workplace. Features like the upgraded Snap — which lets users run multiple apps in the modern UI simultaneously — have clear advantages, and the Boot to Desktop setting should satisfy some IT managers worried their workers might revolt at first sight of the Start screen.

Show You Can Do Something Other Than React

More apps, cheap tablets and better stewardship of existing customers will only get Microsoft so far. It's not enough to simply show it can do the same tricks as its rivals; it needs to go beyond and truly innovate if it ever wants to reclaim its status as a leader in the tech world.

An internal top-to-bottom reorganization — which has been rumored — is a good start. Microsoft also needs to start placing bets earlier and acting on them faster. The architects of Windows 8 often point out that the company started working on touch and tablets well before the iPad's unveiling. While such foresight is commendable, it doesn't change the fact that Windows 8 debuted nearly two years after Apple's tablet arrived to redefine the market.

In other words, ideas are great, but acting on them quickly is better — in fact, necessary. Moving Build to San Francisco, ground zero for our rapidly evolving tech industry, sends the right message: Microsoft can and will embrace the same ideas that have greatly weakened its influence in technology.

Next, we need to see those ideas realized. The explosion of wearable tech is imminent, Big Data creeps slowly into our everyday lives and all kinds of devices are becoming "smart." How does Microsoft fit into that world?

At Build 2013, we should at least get a hint. Otherwise, the conference will be just another bump in the Microsoft's downward slide instead of a step back toward being on top.

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